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Smartphone cameras are getting more and more powerful and better and with each new model, they promise more and more. On the other hand, social networks and many web services encourage using your device to capture any and all moments and share them.
But do you know how much just a photo, however innocent it may seem, can say about you?
More than the image itself, there may be an important set of information that, if accessed, could seriously compromise your privacy and even your security.
the photos on the internet
As the old adage goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words”.
Although this famous phrase predates the Internet, it has proven to be an absolute truth.
Why describe what happy hour was like on Friday with friends, if a sequence of photos literally portrays the succession of events that day and the exact moments when they happened?
Or who knows, showing everyone how much you love your pet and all the funny and happy moments you have at home, also through multiple clicks? Photos are great for that!
He also has his newest object of desire – the notebook launch of that famous brand – and which, after a good amount of time saving, is finally resting on his desk and has already been duly clicked and shared with friends and relatives.
Not to mention the car, which you are selling and have already advertised on the main car buying and selling sites, because you want to exchange it for a newer one. Of course, you recorded it through a dozen photos, to show potential interested parties how preserved it is.
Everyone has realized how visual the internet is and photos – and often videos too – are now almost synonymous with visual content for the web.
But it is also not new that there are warnings about restricting who has access and/or not publishing photos that reveal information about your routine, your style and standard of living, family members and any detail that could put your security and privacy at risk.
Privacy is not even the biggest concern of most, after all ostentation and privacy are almost antonyms and do not mix.
Even so, since social networks began to serve as an important source of information for people with ulterior motives, the concern began to restrict who could see it, such as only friends or perhaps friends of friends as well.
Sometimes image editing software is used to blur some detail of the photo that you don’t want everyone to see. Or, only use photos that are believed to reveal nothing compromising.
Whatever the case, what most don’t know is that there is a good amount of very revealing information that we are unaware of, in all the cases mentioned above and in all the others that a photo of you ends up on the Web.
Like this?
Thanks to EXIF metadata!
What is EXIF metadata?
EXIF metadata, is a particular type of metadata and with a good purpose, at least when it was created it was imagined so.
Metadata is summarized data that qualifies, explains or gives specific or additional information about the data to which it is related.
The EXIF type – acronym for Exchangeable Image File Format – consists of a set of data in a certain format, widely adopted by manufacturers of digital cameras – and also cell phones or other camera devices – and which is used to record various information about the capture of each image made in the camera.
This set of data reveals details such as image resolution, dimensions, focal length, ISO speed, if flash was used, camera manufacturer, lens type, file format (JPG, PNG, etc.), among others related to technical conditions of clicks.
But in the case of cell phones, especially those with GPS (which is currently the case for all models), there is information such as the device model, code – or even the name – of the owner, date and time when it was created. , as well as the last modification and, most importantly, the location with the coordinates – with a good degree of accuracy – where the photo was taken.
On an Android cell phone, for example, by displaying the EXIF metadata, it is possible to see on Google maps the location where the photo was taken.
This information is all attached to the image file itself in the form of tagged metadata.
There are even a number of apps and software designed to edit this information, but precisely because of this, they are able to show all existing fields, including those that are not shown when using the standard options of Android, iOS, Windows, Linux or another operating system.
Why are photos a threat to privacy and security?
Since you already know that all the records made of each moment that you consider important and share contain data – in fact metadata – “hidden” and that can reveal what you would not like, think carefully about what to do after the next click.
Among the examples we gave, do you remember the photos of your car for sale?
Well then, even if the advertised sites do not reveal your data, your photos will. If a “friend of someone else” wants to, he knows which address the vehicle is usually at.
Another item that is on the list of the most stolen are cell phones and thanks to the many photos you post, possible “interested parties” know the model you have and the days and times you are usually in each place, because you he is very concerned about documenting his routine in detail with photos.
Are you registered on a dating site and had a preliminary interest in a person, with whom you exchanged some photos of yourself, but still think it’s too early to reveal, for example, where you live? Know that with that knowledge, that person can know without your having said it. Maybe he knows of other places you also frequent.
Shouldn’t you be in a certain place on a specific day and time? Because if you posted pictures of the moment in question, they will know.
In addition to the most diverse social networks, the many other services and apps that use photos as content, such as the sports tracking application Strava or Google Maps through Google reviews, encourage users to register and publish in your profile the photos taken at the events and both one and the other, allow strangers to follow you.
That is, there are a variety of situations in which your privacy and even your security simply do not exist on the world wide web.
Even more. It is important to remember that not only photos, but several video formats and even some audios, can also contain metadata with similar information.
How to ensure the privacy and security of your photos?
At this point, a lot of people should – rightly – be concerned about the hundreds or – without exaggeration in the case of many people – thousands of photos that they’ve been posting/publishing on the countless services and apps they have on their cell phone.
The good news is that a few social networks and many other apps, knowing this, when a photo is uploaded, the EXIF metadata, or at least the copyright data, are automatically deleted.
The bad thing is that both the privacy policies of these services / apps can change at any time, as there are many that only publish photos with the complete EXIF metadata.
There is still no specific legislation in this regard and, therefore, the few who are concerned with removing information that makes users vulnerable do so out of some respect and ethical commitment to users.
The only way out is to have an EXIF editing software / app, since it is not possible to directly edit the fields with such information in any version of any operating system.
There are apps for this purpose for Android and iOS.
Some image editors also have the feature.
Therefore, depending on where – which app, service or social network – you publish photos, videos or audios, first use such an application and remove or change data that may compromise your security and privacy.
Conclusion
The photos you take and publish on the numerous services and apps on the Internet can reveal much more about you than what appears in the images.
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